Mississippi State
ITA Southern Regional Championships
MSU Open ITA Southern Regionals With Five Friday Victories
October 18, 2019 | Women's Tennis
by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications
BATON ROUGE, La. – Mississippi State women's tennis kicked off ITA Southern Regional Championships action at the LSU Tennis Complex on Friday, with three singles players and two doubles teams registering first-round victories.
After moving indoors due to rain, the Bulldogs started the day with a 2-2 mark in doubles.
The No. 7-seeded MSU pair of Emma Antonaki and Alexandra Mikhailuk added one to the win column against Samford's Arianna Beltrame and Natalia de Ugarte 8-4. The second-seeded and 14th-ranked Bulldog duo of Magda Adaloglou and Tamara Racine cruised past Alba Cortina Pou and Ares Teixido Garcia from Alabama 8-2.
Those two State pairs will continue doubles action Saturday at 9 a.m. CT in the Round of 16. Antonaki and Mikhailuk will meet Anna Loughlan and Luba Vasilyuk of host LSU. Adaloglou and Racine will battle Northwestern State's Mariella Minetti and Pati Polanska.
In other doubles action Friday, freshmen Marta Falceto and Valeria Nikolaev dropped an 8-3 decision to Elsa Pool and Rouxanne Van Rensburg of Samford while State's duo of Sara Lizariturry and Meredith Roberts fell in a tight 8-6 decision to Tereza Janatova and Anna Vrbenska from Ole Miss.
Back outdoors in singles action, three Bulldogs advanced to the second round of the main draw with triumphs.
The No. 4 seed and 115th-ranked Adaloglou downed Arina Amaning of Southern Miss, rallying from a set down to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. The junior Bulldog will face Alabama's Garcia in Saturday's second round.
Down 6-1, 5-3 in her match, the rookie Falceto pulled off the upset of the day for State in exciting comeback fashion, ousting sixth-seeded Nina Geissler of host LSU 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Falceto next meets Dora Szcygielska of Northwestern State.
MSU's No. 41 Antonaki – the No. 2 seed in the draw – had no trouble with ULL's Mariona Perez Naguera in a 6-2, 6-1 win Friday afternoon. The sophomore is set to take on Pei Ju Hsieh of Troy in Saturday's second round.
In other MSU singles action Friday, Nikolaev fell to the 11th seed in Selin Ovunc of Auburn 6-1, 6-0 and Racine was edged out by Mackenzie Clark from Tulane 6-4, 6-2. Roberts was forced to retire against Samford's Elsa Pool in the first round due to illness after Pool had taken the first set 6-3.
MSU's ninth-seeded Mikhailuk was upended by Auburn's Georgia Axon 6-1, 6-4 in her opener before bouncing back to defeat Lauren Gish of Tulane 6-4, 6-0 in a consolation match.
One round of doubles (Round of 16) and two rounds of singles (Second Round/Round of 16) will be held Saturday.
For more information on Mississippi State women's tennis team, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateWT" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MSU Women's Tennis Results at the 2019 ITA Southern Regional Championships
October 18, 2019 – Baton Rouge, Louisiana
DOUBLES
Main Draw
First Round – Elsa Pool/Rouxanne Van Rensburg (Samford) def. Marta Falceto/Valeria Nikolaev (MSU) 8-3; Emma Antonaki/Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU) [7] def. Arianna Beltrame/Natalia de Ugarte (Samford) 8-4; Tereza Janatova/Anna Vrbenska (Ole Miss) def. Sara Lizariturry/Meredith Roberts (MSU) 8-6; #14 Magda Adaloglou/Tamara Racine (MSU) [2] def. Alba Cortina Pou/Ares Teixido Garcia (Alabama) 8-2
SINGLES
Main Draw
First Round – Selin Ovunc (Auburn) [11] def. Nikolaev (MSU) 6-1, 6-0; Georgia Axon (Auburn) def. Mikhailuk (MSU) [9] 6-1, 6-4; #115 Adaloglou (MSU) [4] def. Arina Amaning (Southern Miss) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0; Elsa Pool (Samford) def. Roberts (MSU) 6-3, ret.; Falceto (MSU) def. Nina Geissler (LSU) [6] 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Mackenzie Clark (Tulane) def. Racine (MSU) 6-4, 6-2; #41 Antonaki (MSU) [2] def. Mariona Perez Naguera (ULL) 6-2, 6-1
Consolation – Mikhailuk (MSU) def. Lauren Gish (Tulane) 6-4, 6-0
Numbers preceding names indicate current ITA national rankings; numbers in brackets are tournament seedings
